UK Government purchases 60 million Pfizer booster vaccines

The UK Government has purchased a further 60 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to help support the booster vaccination programme

So far the UK has purchased 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine – including the new 60 million – as well as:

• 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca
• 17 million doses of Moderna
• 30 million doses of Janssen
• 60 million doses of Novavax
• 100 million doses of Valneva
• 60 million doses of GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur
• 50 million doses of CureVac

Bringing the total number of vaccines purchased to 517 million doses.

The additional doses will be used alongside other vaccines for the booster vaccination programme, which will begin in autumn.

Ben Osborn, Country Manager at Pfizer UK, said:

“By more than doubling our supply commitment to the UK, we are delighted to support the ongoing rollout of the UK immunisation programme and help the government in its efforts to address the pandemic.

“Along with our partner BioNTech, we are working relentlessly to support vaccination campaigns worldwide and, based on current projections, believe we can deliver more than 2.5 billion doses of our vaccine globally by the end of 2021.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“Our vaccination programme is bringing back our freedom, but the biggest risk to that progress is the risk posed by a new variant.

“We’re working on our plans for booster shots, which are the best way to keep us safe and free while we get this disease under control across the whole world.

“These further 60 million doses will be used, alongside others, as part of our booster programme from later this year, so we can protect the progress that we’ve all made.”

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said:

“We are doing everything we can to make sure the most vulnerable are protected from COVID-19 now and in the future.

“Our brilliant Vaccines Taskforce has secured an extra 60 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines to support our booster programme, which will be developed in line with the advice of our experts.

“In the meantime, we are making great progress with our vaccination rollout and I urge everybody to get their vaccines as soon as they are eligible.”

Further details on the booster programme will be published by the Government in due course.